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November 28, 2011

I recently received an e-mail from a parent of a prospective parent who was worried by, among other things, rumors she heard that Mount Allison graduates don't perform do well enough to make it to graduate school. I wish I had waited another hour to respond to her:

Rebecca Anne Dixon is Mount Allison's 50th
Rhodes Scholar2011-11-28 14:47:18
Mount Allison University is proud to announce that
Rebecca Anne Dixon, from Ottawa, ON, is the recipient of a Rhodes
Scholarship. Valued at over $100,000, the scholarship is one of the
oldest and most prestigious in the world. Dixon is the ninth Mount
Allison student in the past 11 years to receive the award, and brings
the University’s number of Rhodes Scholars to 50, more per capita than
any other institution in Canada.
"This is an incredibly overwhelming, joyous, and humbling experience
for me," says Dixon. "The opportunity to study and live in a place as
vibrant and intellectually stimulating as Oxford is just thrilling and I
am so grateful to all of the people who have supported and encouraged
me throughout this experience."
"I am delighted for Rebecca," says President and Vice-Chancellor Dr.
Robert Campbell. "She is an exceptional student and this is a truly
outstanding achievement. I also congratulate our faculty and staff for
making Mount Allison an environment where students like Rebecca can
flourish in learning, thinking, and understanding our fast-changing
world and preparing for a rewarding future.
Dixon came to Mount Allison after spending two years in the
International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Schule Schloss Salem in
Ueberlingen, Germany. She plans to study an MPhil in Development Studies
at the University of Oxford next fall.
"It's a strong program that offers an excellent grounding in the
foundational economic, political, and social topics in development, as
well as reviewing the history and internal debates of the discipline."
In her third year at Mount Allison, Dixon was awarded a prestigious
Killam Fellowship — a unique exchange program between Canada and the
U.S. She spent her semester abroad at American University in Washington,
D.C., where she took classes in American Foreign Policy and Sustainable
Cities at the University’s School of International Service. She also
interned with the South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies — a think tank based in D.C.
"My studies there were very formative in defining my research
interests for my thesis."
At the age of 10 Dixon won a UNESCO award for her work to help
children in Ukraine affected by floods. In high school, she travelled to
India volunteering in a government public school in Mumbai. For her
university honours project, Dixon spent the summer in India researching
what platforms exist for public consultation in urban development. More
recently, she won a coveted Canada's Famous Five Award for a project to
educate children about their rights.
In addition to her studies, Dixon has been involved in many community
activities and projects on and off campus including: ATLIS (Atlantic
International Studies Organization); the Argosy (Mount Allison’s
independent student newspaper); Oxfam Mount Allison; the Cumberland
North Academy Mentorship program (reading and literacy volunteer program
in a local elementary school); the Mount Allison German Club; MOSAIC
(Mount Allison’s international students society); and Global Brigades
Mount Allison (an international network that provides communities in
developing nations with sustainable health care solutions in Honduras).
"I think the Mount Allison community fosters the skills, experiences,
and confidence in students to apply for opportunities such as the
Rhodes Scholarship," she says.
Following her time at Oxford, Dixon hopes to work at the logistical
level of a development organization abroad. She says she would like to
eventually return to Canada to work.
"It has been my professors, friends, and extracurricular activities
at Mount Allison that have given me a renewed appreciation of Canada."
Rhodes alumni include Liberal leader Bob Rae, former Premier Danny
Williams, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Visiting Scholar Sheila Watt-Cloutier to lecture
on human dimensions of climate change2011-11-24 12:31:20
Sheila Watt‐Cloutier, an Inuk climate change advocate
and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, will be giving a public lecture at
Mount Allison on the human dimensions of climate change. The lecture
will be held on November 29 at 7:00 p.m. (Atlantic Time) in Convocation
Hall.
Entitled "Not the Time to COP Out," the lecture will mark the second
day of the international UN COP-17 climate negotiations in Durban, South
Africa. This is the final opportunity for global governments to agree
on a binding international framework to address climate change that will
replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012.

As former international Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council,
Watt-Cloutier has worked extensively at the UN level to advocate on
behalf of Northern and Inuit peoples, who are disproportionately
affected by climate change. She was amongst the first to link climate
change within a human rights framework and, as a result, was nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is Watt-Cloutier’s first and only public lecture in New
Brunswick and as a Visiting Scholar at Mount Allison.

There will be the opportunity to ask moderated questions through
Skype during the talk. Questions may be summarized and asked on your
behalf, or you might actually be projected live to personally ask
Sheila Watt-Cloutier. To ask a question, connect with Skype address:
isumatvwebcaster

Read more about Watt-Cloutier and the upcoming event in HereNB.
If you are unable to attend the event, watch the live web cast at
http://www.isuma.tv/

Photo Caption: (from left to right) Advait Vij, Geoffrey Campbell, Craig Benjamin, and Aya Al-Shalchi in front of a poster in support of disappeared Columbian indigenous leader Kimy Domicó

Amnesty International (AI) recently stated that, “globally, Canada’s standing as a reliable human rights champion has dropped precipitously.” This is due to a number of actions that the Canadian government has taken to undermine universal human rights principles, chief among them respect for the human rights of Aboriginal Peoples. On November 17, Craig Benjamin addressed Mount Allison students, shedding light on this issue.